Terns nesting in record numbers on Volusia's Disappearing Island

A sudden and unexpected “tern” of events has bird lovers cheering and boaters at Volusia County's Disappearing Island advised to steer clear of a large and growing colony of nesting birds.

By Dinah Voyles Pulverdinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

A sudden and unexpected “tern” of events has bird lovers cheering and boaters at Volusia County's Disappearing Island advised to steer clear of a large and growing colony of nesting birds. “It's pretty exciting,” said Alex Kropp, a state wildlife biologist responsible for helping to ensure the birds continue nesting along Florida beaches. Tern nests have been declining in Florida for years, said Kropp, a regional biologist. The terns are a protected species in Florida because of their dwindling numbers. So to find the largest colony in decades nesting on the ground and hatching chicks on a Volusia beach is a really big deal, he said.Volusia County environmental management staff have counted 63 least tern nests on the beach at Disappearing Island, a popular recreation spot near the mouth of Ponce de Leon Inlet. It's the most nests in one location in Volusia County that Kropp can remember.The colony of bird nests has been roped off and posted with signs to try to protect the birds and educate the public.Last year, a couple of tern nests were seen on nearby Rattlesnake Island, but the island is “full of predators” and none of the eggs survived, said Jennifer Winters, coastal habitat program manager with the county.Winters doesn't think it has proven too much of an inconvenience for the boaters and swimmers who like to visit the island. “The island is so big and there's a lot of space for people to come and recreate,” she said. “The place where the birds are isn't the most ideal place to anchor a boat. Most people anchor on the north or south side of the island.” Matt Hall of Port Orange took his boat out to Disappearing Island last Sunday. Hall said he saw the cordoned off area as he drove by but once he was on the island he never noticed it anymore. “It's kind of in no-man's land, right in the middle of the island,” Hall said. “Boaters typically don't park there.” The least terns migrate long distances from places like Central and South America to nest here, Kropp said. They tend to nest near inlets, but over the years, they have found fewer undisturbed locations and they're susceptible to nest predation by raccoons, foxes and coyotes, he said. To describe what the birds do as “nesting” may be a bit of an overstatement. The birds dig a scrape out of the sand, round it out with their bellies and then lay two or three eggs, he said. Because of their wide open location, the nests are particularly vulnerable to disturbance, Kropp said. Laying on the white sand, the eggs are very vulnerable to high heat, he said, and if the parents are disturbed and leave the nest, the eggs can fry. That's one reason the county has roped off an area around the nests on Disappearing Island, “to give them their best chance,” Winters said.The nests have already begun to hatch, which means the chicks could be roaming outside the posted area as they learn to find food and fly, she said. “These little birds are so tiny. It would be easy to step on them or accidentally hurt them.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the county have been working to recruit volunteers who can become trained stewards to help guard the beach, Kropp said, and protect the terns from disturbances such as people walking through the area or letting their dogs run through.In the 1970s, the terns used to nest at Smyrna Dunes Park, which was once designated a critical wildlife area for the terns and black skimmers, Winters said. However, habitat changes there sent the birds elsewhere to nest.The inlet has accumulated a lot of sand over the years, at Smyrna Dunes and Disappearing Island. That's been a negative for the terns at Smyrna Dunes, because plants have begun taking root and gopher tortoises use the habitat. But, it's a positive change on Disappearing Island, because it means parts of the beach are no longer submerged by the tide every day, so they're available for tern nests. The lack of plants and trees means there aren't many predators hanging out either, Winters said.The largest nesting colony on Florida's east coast is at Anastasia, near St. Augustine, she said, where they have a peak count of 178 nests. They also have a few nests at Matanzas National Monument and about 30 nests on the beach at Summer Haven, just north of Flagler County, he said. In some locations, he said, terns began nesting on gravel rooftops, but now people have begun replacing those gravel rooftops. There are still a few colonies on rooftops in Volusia County, according to Brandon Noel with the integrated environmental science department at Bethune-Cookman University. A colony at the college had 16 nests with a half-dozen chicks, Noel reported to Winters in a recent email, while a colony on the roof of a local salon recently failed.